Cherry and Kuroe held their breaths as Bishop and Lufine passed by. This was the turning point of their plan. Due to her anxiousness, Cherry almost gasped in shock, but fortunately, Sassu took over her body once again and she was able to remain her composure at the last second.
Kuroe heaved a sigh of relief. For a moment back there, he thought that Cherry might give away their location. They were hidden pretty well, sure, but a brief spike in emotions or a sudden noise is bound to give away their location.
"That was close, am I right?" Sassu teased, nudging at Kuroe who was sitting right beside her.
"Don't move too much. I'm trying as hard as I could... to think that I have to do this for ten minutes." Kuroe hissed as sweat trickled on her forehead. She was having a hard time keeping her superpower in control, and Cherry was not helping since she was pestering her.
"Come on, if you have the energy to snap at me like that, then surely you have more energy in reserve."
"I don't. I'm barely keeping it together as it is." Kuroe answered back. And he was.
Meanwhile, Bishop and Lufine passed by a second time as they patrolled around the dilapidated building. They still wore their usual confident expression since their detection skills were incomparable to a majority of superheroes out there.
They just need a split second. Once they detected their presence, they would immediately teleport toward them and catch them off-guard. It was do or die for the two because this was the last match. They have to win no matter what. Otherwise, they will lose face in front of all the fourth-years they represented.
Honestly, Dark Matter and Light Wing weren't really renowned superheroes back in their earlier years. It was only in their fourth year when they began to shine. Then again, they have severe competition in the world of superstar superheroes, so they chose to be undercover superheroes instead.
Not a lot of superheroes prefer to be in the shadows. They'd rather be in public saving the day than dwelling in the dark where their deeds go unnoticed. This gave Dark Matter and Light Wing the edge and it didn't take long before they became one of the few undercover superheroes who had a pretty high success rate in their mission.
Right now, they were reminded of the past. And they couldn't help but recall their actual ranking when placed beside renowned superheroes. It was because their deeds go under the radar that they could continue being mysterious. But if they were in public, there was no way they could go head-to-head with a lot of superheroes.
After the second round, they smiled at each other, thinking that they'd caught Cherry and Kuroe now. Since they couldn't detect them outside, they decided to scour the entire building. They just need one chance to get them. Just one chance.
Cherry and Kuroe held their breaths for a second time as Bishop and Lufine approached the entrance. They were right there! Sitting beside the door like rats hiding from a feral cat. They covered their mouths and eased their heartbeats while their eyes were fixated on Bishop and Lufine.
One wrong move and their location would be exposed.
Fortunately, Sassu's intricate control over Cherry's superpower gave them the advantage. With her precise output, she was able to change the life energy around her, completely blocking Bishop and Lufine's detection skill.
After all, how could they detect two people when they were technically not there? Sassu made sure that she hid her and Kuroe's life energy from the two, and she did it expertly. Whenever Bishop and Lufine scanned their general area, they couldn't see anything.
"They're not here, where did they go?" Bishop asked, turning to Lufine with a slightly worried expression on his face. Right now, he felt a tad bit concerned that they hadn't detected the two. They'd already scanned the outside twice, and now they've scanned the first few floors of the dilapidated building and there were still no signs of them.
"They should be here. We scanned the outside, and they weren't there. Unless they were hiding someplace else... this is the last place they'll be." Lufine assured her teammate.
Kuroe's jaw dropped as he read Lufine's mind. She was acting concerned and her face showed an expression of anxiousness and worry. However, it was just a front.
In truth, she was actually thinking about Jonathan. She was thinking about how assertive he was, asking for her number and grabbing her by the hand like that. In her mind, she was squealing. That was the first time someone treated her like that and it really shot her through the heart.
"What the—" Kuroe wanted to blurt out a bad word but she realized that this was for the general audience. Usage of bad words was limited in this novel so she swallowed her words and shook her head instead. She couldn't believe that Jonathan's tactic worked, and he was able to attract Lufine's attention like that.
As for Bishop, his thoughts were a different matter altogether. He was thinking about Lufine. Everything in his mind was filled with Lufine and how he liked her. There were a hundred or so confession scenarios in his brain and he was still trying to choose which one to use.
Here and there, the thought of the heroes versus villains exercise would pop up in Bishop's head, and he would think about the first four losses they experienced. He would then think about the past, and then his thoughts would wander to Lufine again. It was a vicious cycle, and Kuroe wanted no part of it.
"Kuroe, focus!" Sassu muttered. At the moment, she was still in control, and Cherry was cheering in the backlines. She was now the subconscious instead of the other way around.
"I am focusing. It's just that their thoughts are kind of distracting." Kuroe complained.
One might think that Cherry and Kuroe were sitting out in the open and technically they were. Their exact spot was right beside the entrance to the building. To the naked eye, one could see that they were just idling by where they were but for some odd reason... Bishop and Lufine couldn't see them.
Even the drones and camera who were closely watching the entire time, while producing a live feed outside, showed that Kuroe and Cherry were really just sitting there. As for the audience who were keenly watching the stream, they couldn't help but watch the entire thing with growing frustration in their mind.
Cherry and Kuroe were right there! How come Bishop and Lufine were oblivious to them? It's as if they've become ghosts themselves!
Just watching the live stream made Knighthawk furious, and he wanted to tear his clothes and scream at the two fourth-years who looked so stupid right now. They did two rounds outside and yet they didn't see the two inside. They spent quite some time on the first floor of the building... and they didn't even see them!
If it were only allowed, Knighthawk would've given them a good slap on their faces due to how idiotic they appeared.
"Sassu... er, I mean... Cherry is using her superpower to hide their life energy. That means they couldn't be detected by unconventional means like signal, thermal, and night vision. As for Kuroe, she's responsible for tricking Bishop and Lufine. With her psychic skills, she put up and maintained a barrier around them that formed some sort of illusion." Satoshi began explaining.
Hiroshi and all his classmates turned towards him as he continued explaining. "Since we're watching through the cameras, and since Kuroe isn't directing her superpower at us, we can see them clearly. But for Bishop and Lufine, they're practically invisible. To think that they were able to combine their superpower like that. This is awesome." Satoshi excitedly muttered to himself.
Everyone thought that he was talking to them. But quite frankly, Satoshi was talking to himself. It was his own commentary, a monologue that reflected his inner passion when it comes to superpowers.
"Still, that would take precise usage of their skill, right? If they were really doing that, then they have to be in sync. Not only that, they had to be constantly aware of the fluctuations and all the other external things that come into play. For example, wind pressure, dust particles, and even their own breathing." Hiroshi explained.
He too was a great fan of superpowers, and when it comes to nerdy stuff like this, he could finally go head-to-head with Satoshi after months of careful research and exposure to superhero stuff online.
"Kuroe could read minds, right? She's in sync with Cherry's mind because she's technically in her mind." Satoshi continued explaining.
At this point, Knighthawk gritted his teeth in frustration. Time was almost up, and Bishop and Lufine still had no idea where Cherry and Kuroe were. Even though they were right there!
Another loss. A clean win streak for the entire Class 3-1.
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